Abstract
Service design often aims to create meaningful experiences, while rituals offer ways to structure their symbolic, emotional, and cultural dimensions. Understanding rituals in context can help designers co-create culturally respectful solutions that transcend boundaries. This paper explores how values embedded in wedding rituals can inform the design of more inclusive and meaningful services. Drawing on an international workshop with designers, we used a specially developed template to explore wedding rituals in a multicultural context. The study identified three overarching themes: the end of an era, patriarchy, and future prosperity. The mapping activity supported participants in reflecting on underlying rules, norms, and beliefs. We argue that the template can act as a boundary object, fostering dialogue across cultural perspectives and supporting the co-design of significant life events. While the study is exploratory and limited in scope, it offers early empirical grounding for incorporating ritual design into service development.
Keywords
service design, ritual design, user experience, template
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/servdes2025.32
Citation
Fidos, M., Suoheimo, M., Häkkilä, J.,and Kuronen, M.(2025) Wedding rituals: Shedding light on the hidden values of rituals to design better services., in Mahamuni, R., Onkar, P. (eds.), ServDes 2025: Empowering Diversity, Nurturing Lasting Impact, 6–10 October, Hyderabad, India. https://doi.org/10.21606/servdes2025.32
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Wedding rituals: Shedding light on the hidden values of rituals to design better services.
Service design often aims to create meaningful experiences, while rituals offer ways to structure their symbolic, emotional, and cultural dimensions. Understanding rituals in context can help designers co-create culturally respectful solutions that transcend boundaries. This paper explores how values embedded in wedding rituals can inform the design of more inclusive and meaningful services. Drawing on an international workshop with designers, we used a specially developed template to explore wedding rituals in a multicultural context. The study identified three overarching themes: the end of an era, patriarchy, and future prosperity. The mapping activity supported participants in reflecting on underlying rules, norms, and beliefs. We argue that the template can act as a boundary object, fostering dialogue across cultural perspectives and supporting the co-design of significant life events. While the study is exploratory and limited in scope, it offers early empirical grounding for incorporating ritual design into service development.